It Happened on Saturday: Four Memorable Moments that Shaped College Football
Matthew Andrews teaches American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His courses use the history of sports to explore race relations, gender ideals, political protest, and American identity. Professor Andrews was asked by the UNC student body to give the honorific “Last Lecture” to the graduating class of 2015. His students have voted him their university’s “Best Professor” three times since 2016.
Overview
Where does the game of football come from? And how did it go from an unorganized game called “rugby” to the sport that dominates the American college and cultural landscape? In this lecture we will discuss the genesis of the game as well as explore the four most important moments in the history of college football. Among those making appearances in this lecture are U.S. Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Grim Reaper.
Recommended Reading:
Reading Football: How the Popular Press Created an American Spectacle, by Michael Oriard
Carlisle v. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle, by Lars Anderson
Season of Saturdays: A History of College Football in 14 Games, by Michael Weinreb
Prof Andrew did a really good job of giving an historical timeline of the sport and drilling down to all the nuances and impacts college football has had on American culture. Very interesting!